


Feels Like Familiar Regret

by VirtuallyInactive



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Ficlet, Fluff, Fluffy, One Shot, Platonic Love, Sad friends, Undertale Spoilers, angsty, idk - Freeform, short fic, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-16 01:39:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7247041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VirtuallyInactive/pseuds/VirtuallyInactive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>When there’s a knocking on Alphys’s door at three in the morning, she knows there’s really only one person it could be.<em> Sans seeks Alphys out in the middle of the night and they talk, but not really.</em></em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Feels Like Familiar Regret

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a headcanon by and crossposted by the lovely 0netype on tumblr! (Take caution when checking them out as their blog is nsfw and not for everybody!) I hope you enjoy reading!

When there’s a knocking on Alphys’s door at three in the morning, she knows there’s really only one person it could be.

It’s not Undyne. Undyne is rowdy but never invades her personal space when not invited.

It’s not the families of the amalgamates. They send her letters but they never actively seek her out. Not anymore.

That leaves Sans.

And of course it is Sans. When is it not Sans?

“sup?” He greets her when she opens the door, stretching his arms as he steps past her. As a natural response, she can feel her eye twitch. 

“Why do you always do this to me?” Alphys asks tiredly, closing the door behind her old friend. His grin is present as ever and there’s a certain sparkle in his eye. She knows it amuses him to torment her like this.

“yours is the only bathroom I could use.” Sans states dryly, no remorse in his voice. “besides, haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Yeah, well, y-you never visit!” Alphys accuses, hating how her voice trembles. Out of all people, you’d think she’d be comfortable with Sans. There’s a reason they don’t seek each other out often though. And they’re both more comfortable that way.

But when Sans does seek her out it’s usually to use her shower and leave her flat out of toothpaste. 

Sans just snorts at her comment. There’s very little light in the room and it bathes his skull in a silver glow. Alphys follows behind him as they move towards her bathroom. She averts her eyes when he starts stripping, but she doesn’t blush anymore. She did the first few times and he always made fun of her for it.

They’re quiet for a while as Sans runs the water and starts scrubbing at his bones with Alphys’s toothpaste. Alphys sits down on the floor besides Sans’s clothes, yawning. It doesn’t really matter that Sans always visits in the middle of the night. No one really knows they know each other and they both have a hard time sleeping anyway. They’re probably the only ones who understand the other’s nightmares. 

That doesn’t mean Alphys isn’t tired though. She takes care to yawn extra hard. Sans just hums at her in amusement. They spend some time in comfortable silence; the only sound the running water and the scrubbing of a soft brush on bones. Alphys is pretty much starting to fall asleep again when Sans speaks up.

“can I bring some of this for papyrus?” He asks, referring to the toothpaste. Alphys looks at him. “Uh, sure. I thought Undyne already, um, bathed? Him?” 

“I wouldn’t call dunking him in the waterfall at waterfall bathing.” Sans laughs and it automatically makes Alphys smile too. “I guess.”

Sans is now looking at her, his eye sockets slowly sliding halfway closed, his teeth grinding against each other into a more crooked grin. Oh no.

“so how about undyne huh?”

If it were someone else, she might not have known what he meant. But Alphys has known Sans for a long time. And unfortunately that means he knows her too.

“W-what about Undyne?” 

“c’mon alphys.” Sans is smirking and Alphys leans towards him, putting her claw over his face. “No.”

Blue wisps of magic are gathering around Sans’s skull and Alphys pulls her claw back just before his newly conjured tongue can touch her. It straightens in a familiarly mocking manner before it dissipates again. “Very funny, Sans.”

“one of these days.” Sans doesn’t sound bothered. Of course, it’s not the first time he’s called her out on her… infatuation… with Undyne. But she’s cool with that. As long as he doesn’t tell anybody. Ever.

Which she is counting on. He can keep secrets. 

When he asks her to clean his back for him she does. He could easily reach it himself but he’s lazy. And that was her original reason for being in the bathroom anyway.

The first time he came to use her bathroom in the middle of the night she’d gone to sit on her couch and watch anime. A few times later she had just gone back to sleep. But then he started calling her in to wash the back of his bones whenever he came over. Nowadays he doesn’t really need to ask anymore. He does though, because he might be lazy but she is shy.

It seems like an awfully intimidate thing to do with somebody, if she looks at it objectively. She couldn’t just do it for anybody. But her and Sans don’t speak, not really, not seriously. This is their main way of contact. Sans presenting himself in a vulnerable manner, Alphys taking action in her own small way.

She’s always so afraid to take action since… what happened.

And Sans knows. Sometimes she wants to talk to him, about everything. But she wouldn’t even know where to start. And at the same time she doesn’t even want to.

And Sans doesn’t want to either. It’s painful for him too.

So they don’t. But they don’t want to lose each other. Or what has been. Their memories. So they do this instead.

When they’re done Sans’s bones are back to a shiny ivory and he no longer reeks of sweat. Of course the smell returns when he puts his clothes back on –doesn’t he know how to do laundry?!-, but it was nice while it lasted. 

They don’t hug or anything when she sees him out. That’s just not them. He leaves with the remainder of her toothpaste in his hand and a carefree “see ya.”

She invites him to come watch anime with him sometime and he nods and she knows he won’t. That’s just not them either. She tells him to say hi to Papyrus for her and she doubts he will. She watches him go and then he’s gone.

These meetings don’t necessarily make her happy. They make parts of her soul ache but in the end she does feel lighter. And she’s grateful for that.

A quick glance at her clock reveals it’s nearing five already. Alphys sighs. Well. Might as well continue working on Mettaton’s body now. Or just rewatch Mew Mew Kissy Cutie.


End file.
